• 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Physician's group: Drop Kraft as sponsor of Texas Stadium implosion

  Dropping Kraft now would be like calling up the doctor's office an hour after your appointment time, to say that you decided to go to the Homeopathic practitioner you heard about on Craigslist. You don't think the doctor's going to at least charge you a missed appointment fee?

• 2 hours, 11 minutes ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

  I want the free tickets!

  (and I like my chances!)

• 3 hours, 36 minutes ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Guy gets pulled over in Dallas and is handcuffed, then runs, finding refuge in a ... big drainage pipe (like you do), and then is found 30 minutes later. See weird video.

  While older, mostly Northern cities have sewage and stormwater runoff piped through the same system, most newer (Southern) cities have separate systems. The drain the guy ran down (or rather, up) would have had nothing more than street runoff. No sewage.

  The perp was dumb, for sure. Especially when he tried to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights when asked if he had a gun! You can't use your First Amendment right to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater, and you aren't giving up anything if you say "No" when the officer asks if you have a gun. (And you might very well give up your life if you give the cop reason to doubt!)

  Though the UPRR "cop" didn't come off as the brightest rock in the mine. The funniest thing was when he said, "Get up or I'll kill you AGAIN!" I guess you don't wanna mess with a cop who will kill you, resurrect you from the dead, and then threaten to send you back to Hades!

• 5 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Yikes: People in Liverpool hate Tom Hicks so much, they blasted him on billboards.

  I think we have a lot in common with the Liverpudlians, except for their use of "Cowboy" as a pejorative. Where I come from, a "Cowboy" is some you can trust -- he might be a little quick on the draw, but he's a straight shooter. Apparently, it means the exact opposite over there, where they're still smarting from the loss of that "sun never sets on the British Empire" thing.

  Anyone have an equivalent term -- something that means a Bad Thing to us, but would be interpreted entirely different to the Brits?

  Just doing my part to foster international miscommunication. :)

• 5 days, 8 hours ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Evolution Fuels announces agreement for first fuel station in Dallas

  To be fair, this wouldn't be the first "boutique" gas station in Dallas. There's also Green Spot Market near White Rock Lake, on Buckner north of Garland Rd. But a little competition is a good thing all around!

• 1 week ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Six-hour course required for first-time drivers ages 18-24

  It's not the length, it's the cost. Driving may be "a right, not a privilege" -- but if that were true in the real world, we'd have more trains and fewer highways. In the real world, a car is a necessity for 90% of the population. It's a travesty that Texas doesn't include Driver's Ed in the schools.

  Texas' so-called Parent Taught Driver's Ed is a sham, bordering on a scam. The state used to provide a set of course materials, but they were utterly useless. Instead of helping parents teach safe driving habits, the program does nothing but deliver customers to shady outfits that charge $60-$200 for something that should be available to everyone.

  How much do injuries and deaths on Texas highways cost taxpayers? The lack of public driver education in Texas is a prime example of "penny wise and pound foolish".

• 1 week ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Movie on DVD review: $9.99

  Added it to my Netflix queue. It says that "Watch Instantly" is "coming soon" for this title, if you're keeping score at home.

• 1 week ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Cuba Libre on Henderson in Dallas closed

  Damn! That place was awesome! It was always at the top of the list for a unique, high-end meal. The sauces were to die for, and the mojitos were perfect.

• 1 week ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Folks, please tip your ... realtors?

  If Dallas homebuyers follow the lead of Dallas restaurant patrons, then Realtors can look forward to getting a couple of crumpled-up ones, a quarter, a bent penny, and some pocket lint.

• 1 week, 4 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Dallas music grabs more air time on KEGL - 97.1

  I wish her luck, but she's at the mercy of the Clear Channel corporate bosses... the same geniuses who shot down The Eagle and replaced it with La Preciosa before bringing back the reborn Eagle. If Spanish Oldies had made money, The Eagle would still be swimmin' wit' the Elephants at the ZEW.

  The only way a station will truly support local music is if the station is locally owned -- but Clear Channel and its ilk have destroyed all the big-signal indie stations. You can't pick up Dallas' KHYI 95.3 or Fort Worth's KFWR 95.9 (alt.country) without a tin can on the antenna, and KNON's content is all over the place, so there's no way for it to be a consistent player.

  That's why I celebrated the arrival of KXT 91.7, the new music-oriented public radio station, by joining the station. They'll provide a professionally-operated station with a strong signal. The competition will be good -- without KXT, I doubt The Eagle would have bothered to give Ms. Chase the opportunity to present local rockers, even in the middle of the night.

• 1 week, 5 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Dallas police substitute "knock and talk" for real investigation

  Interesting, it seems that @rpm4565 and @chriss have systematically rejected three out of ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights.

  Consider the First Amendment (freedom of speech). The author of the Grits for Breakfast blog has as much right to have his opinion reposted here as anyone else. Whether it "deserves" publication is completely up to the PegNews editors. Don't like their choices? Have fun adding knee-jerk comments at the Dallas Managed News site, instead.

  It's not "stupid" to be suspicious of a policeman's motive, especially if you still remember the Fake Drug Scandal. That's the whole reason behind the Fourth Amendment's protection from no unreasonable search & seizure -- a motivated adversary can find something incriminating in even the most innocent person's home.

  Of course, refusing to allow the officer in for a warrantless search will cause the officer and his buddies to assume you have something to hide. Simply refusing the officer permission causes you to incriminate yourself -- and even the most casual viewer of Law & Order knows that the Fifth Amendment specifically states that you should not be compelled to testify against yourself.

  This whole discussion would be pretty pointless, of course, if it weren't such earth-shattering news that the DPD is going to start having their officers get out of their cars and talk to people. That's the real problem that the Grits blogger is trying to bring out, when he wonders if the department really wants to get the drugs out of the neighborhoods. If this "new" technique isn't part of an overall push on all fronts, it won't do anything more than inflate arrest statistics, and dump even more nonviolent potheads into the Lew Sterett Criminal Generation Facility, where they can learn how to become more violent and dangerous.

• 1 week, 5 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Dallas Tea Party invites Keith Olbermann to see their diversity

  While I think the Tea Party movement is misguided and deluded by its own Utopian vision, I think the 80% whiteness factor is almost a non-issue, at least for urban Partiers. The article talks about Plano, so 20% non-Anglo participation would be about 19% more than I'd have expected anyway.

  Now, out in the country, it's a different story. There are plenty of folks out there just itching to turn back the clock to the Leave It To Beaver days of the 1950s, when black people "knew their place", as my great-grandma told me in no uncertain terms. "Interposition and Nullification" sound great, until you remember how those terms were used to give backwards state politicians an excuse to violate basic human rights. Don't believe it? Just pick up the newspaper in Montague County.

  (Note to hoss35042: I'll take you more seriously when you learn the difference between "are" and "our". kthxbye.)

• 1 week, 5 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Dallas guerrilla restaurant 48 Nights premiered on Monday

  I guess "antone" thought Spam was today's Secret Ingredient. :)

• 2 weeks ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Is it time for a tent city in Dallas?

  It pains me to agree with anything "Clay213" says, even in part. But perhaps there might be a way to bring back the concept of the "Poor Farm", as a place where those who want to work can work, and live in dignity.

  Obviously, it couldn't be the sort of system that existed in the past, rife with abuse... it would have to combine the old concept of self-respect through labor with the new concepts of transparency and accountability.

  The comment by "sigh" about the man who had few options because of a past felony should be a warning. We've decided that "lock 'em up" is the solution to every problem, from smoking pot to stealing cars to armed robbery to violent rape. As a result, everyone who comes out of prison (which they all do, eventually) is judged to be of the worst sort, unemployable, unable to live near any number of otherwise public facilities.

  For 20 years or more, we've been storing up a big batch of instant homeless. If we don't do something constructive, the problem can only get worse.

• 2 weeks, 3 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Racially charged ad in a newspaper distributed in Montague County turns heads

  Like I tell my kids... it hasn't been that long since they and their friends (of all colors) would have been forbidden by law from playing together. Anyone who thinks that those days are gone for good needs to see this story. Don't forget: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

• 2 weeks, 3 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Streetcars in Dallas would be highly beneficial

  @Clay213: Hey, I can regurgitate, too! How's this?

  "Yes. Great idea.

  Austin is doing this. Wonderful idea. They paved over the tracks and now they want to put them back. Awesome.

  Just put the cat line over head and uncover the tracks.

  Cheaper and with all the benefits with none of the drawbacks that buses have.

  Sorry conservatives: Light rail is an unmitigated success in this country. Get over your Hummers and find a real solution."

• 2 weeks, 5 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Sexy cucumber billboard upsets Dallas-area residents

  The billboard -- which can also be found in the middle of nowhere, on US 175 south of the Kaufman Sara's Secrets location -- is funny. Even if it's a little bit embarrassing when your kids ask why you're laughing.

  But in any case, it's FAR less disturbing than any typical Morning Drive radio show. And trust me, even if you and your kids are listening to KEOM, KERA, or KLTY, their friends are bringing the latest from KEGL & co to school. Perhaps a discussion of vegetables might provide a healthy counterpoint.

• 2 weeks, 6 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Grand Prairie lottery winner who had million-dollar ticket stolen by store clerk will get $400k from crook's frozen bank account.

  I can't help but wonder if Mr. Willis Willis will use some of the proceeds to buy a new name. But since he's had it for 67 years, he's probably used to it by now.

• 3 weeks ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Barbecue report: Colter's Bar-B-Q & Grill in Dallas

  Colter's has been on a downhill slide for probably two decades... they were the top of the heap when I moved to Texas in the '80s, but then they just seemed to disappear. I don't know how they've survived this long in the hyper-competitive Dallas restaurant market. Maybe it's something in that catchy jingle... "At Colter's, Colter's barbequuuuuuuue."

• 3 weeks ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Shen Yun

  The Shen Yun performance was great, even from up in the balcony. But it was no pure cultural exchange program. It was part dance recital, part political rally, and part old-time revival, Falun Dafa style. With a little Monty Python thrown in.

  Like a high-school level dance recital, each dance was introduced by a pair of announcers, cracking lame jokes and generally killing time while the performers got prepared behind the curtain. But unlike your kids' recital, the dancers were all absolutely perfect, telling "ancient legends of virtue" and "modern tales of courage".

  Those "modern tales", though, weren't just updated versions of old Chinese folk stories. They were explicitly political -- it's no wonder the Mainland Chinese authorities found an excuse to keep the troupe out of Hong Kong. In one, a family is on an outing, when the scene suddenly changes from a field of flowers to a cold grey Stalinist background, and black-suited dancers emblazoned with the Hammer and Sickle beat the family mercilessly. In the other, a man who dares to unfurl a banner saying "Falun Dafa Is Good" is beaten and thrown in prison, where spirits descend from the sky and miraculously stay the hands of his tormentors.

  Which brings us to the old-time Gospel Revival aspect, Falun Dafa (aka Falun Gong) style. There was no hiding the performers' piety and devotion to their faith, which like all faiths is built on placing one's earthly desires secondary to higher purposes, like the struggle for freedom, and faith in an eternal reward. Amazing solo singers sang hymns praising the Dafa that would come to earth in these difficult times. The specifics are a bit fuzzy, as I'm sure my own Christian faith may seem to a Falun Dafa practitioner, but much is made of that eventual journey into the clouds, where you put on purple clothes and orange hair.

  It may seem like I'm giggling at someone else's strongly-held beliefs, like someone rolling their eyes at the sacrament of Communion in my own faith. Perhaps that's because of the cartoonish way some of these precepts were presented. Behind the dancers, instead of a physical set, was a video projection screen that stretched across the entire stage. It was very effective when it showed a peaceful mountain and blue sky, or distant pagodas, or even the stark transition from peaceful field to a grey Soviet-style prison. But when Shen Yun tried to animate their cultural legacy, the suspension of disbelief was impossible to keep up. It was cute at first, when the angelic figures in the puffy clouds occasionally fluttered their wings. It was a bit trickier when a swarm of purple-robed figures came out of the heavens on the screen, and then emerged from stage left to take the martyred mother home.

  But when they told the traditional Chinese story of the goddess imprisoned in the mountain, and the top of one mountain lifted up and set down in another spot, I realized that the next logical thing would be for a giant foot to come down from a cloud and smash the rock. It was only by an effort of will that I attempted to focus on the expert choreography as the heavenly figures on stage blocked the blows of the evil Communists... and not on their descent from the mouth of Queen Victoria. And the performances were powerful enough without giant character glyphs zooming to the foreground, with a translation beneath them that may as well have said, "And now for something... completely different."

  The hard work of the dancers, the live orchestra, and the many behind-the-scenes choreographers and crew would have been better served with a simpler backdrop. The high-school announcers I can understand -- the story of the drunken warrior wouldn't make sense without some verbal exposition, though I still could have done without the wisecracks. But visually, the backgrounds were a distraction. When the medium is movement, let the dancers do the talking... not the scenery.

• 3 weeks, 3 days ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Karaoke review: Barbara's Pavillion in Dallas

  Hey, Leah... one step at a time, ok? I'm still getting over the shock of seeing all the ladies leave. Not sure I'm ready to be unsure which ones are ladies, ya know? :)

• 1 month ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Dallas Rep. Jeb (Jim?) Hensarling has a “D” next to his name – d’oh!

  Was his follow up question something along the lines of, "And in 2010, do you and the rest of the Democrat party plan to stop beating your wives?"

  I don't think it's wise to underestimate Jeb Hensarling -- he and the rest of the Tea Party folks are tapping into some serious discontent. But boy oh boy, with a "question" like that, he sure does make it hard to find his smart side. Maybe he's just trying to look dumb and throw us off his trail.

• 1 month ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  West Exchange

  The website in the listing no longer belongs to the joint -- it's a search spam page. C'mon, folks, if you're serious about running a business, then register the domain name for more than ONE freakin' year!

• 1 month ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  Shen Yun

  Got tickets for Saturday matinee. Interesting story on their website: apparently, they've fallen afoul of the Chinese dictatorship, and were blocked from playing Hong Kong. In their words, "The Chinese communist regime has been seeking to interfere with our performances for years by trying to pressure officials and theaters to cancel our shows."

  Details here: http://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/...

• 1 month ago
  Robert Brooks's comment on:

  The Arcade Bar

  The number listed above doesn't work, but the one on the Lakewood Theater site does: (214) 821-7469

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